Ava DuVernay Tackles Mass Incarceration With Documentary ‘The 13th’

2015 Sundance Institute Celebration Benefit

Source: Michael Tran / Getty

‘The 13th’ will premiere on Netflix on October 7.

It doesn’t get much busier than Ava DuVernay these days. From tackling TV with the critically acclaimed Queen Sugaron OWN, to directing A Wrinkle in Time for Disney, and now debuting a documentary on Netflix, she is without a doubt one of the most in-demand women in Hollywood.

In just a few weeks, she will debut her highly anticipated documentary about mass incarceration and its staggering effects.

Titled The 13th and based on the 13th Amendment of the Constitution which states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States … except as a punishment for crime.” Ava delves into that punishment and just what it does to those on the receiving end of it.

The Root has a detailed account of the documentary, including the official release date.

In “The 13th,” DuVernay, with the help of notables such as Van Jones and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, examines the aftershocks that have reverberated through American society and the justice system since the end of slavery.

The United States has just 5 percent of the world’s population—but contains 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. In other words, 1 out of every 4 prisoners in the world is in America. In 1972 the U.S. prison population was 200,000; today it’s 2.3 million. And 1 in 3 black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetimes.

“The 13th” will premiere at the New York Film Festival on Friday, making it the first-ever doc to open the festival, and will air on Netflix Oct. 7 and as a limited theatrical release.

You can check out the full trailer below: